Diversity & inclusion
WU welcomes the diversity of the WU community as an enrichment, an opportunity, and a resource that helps us stay innovative in a complex environment. As a responsible university, we are aware of our social responsibility and want to make sure all members of the WU community feel safe and included.
Facts & Figures
of WU students
10% of WU students report having (at least) one health impairment that has at least a slight or intermittent effect on their studies. (Social survey of students 2019)
of WU Students
70% of these WU students do not want to disclose their impairment at university. (Social survey of students 2019)
women
378 women are employed at WU as academic staff. The percentage of women among academic staff is 46%. (FTE, Equal Opportunities Report 2022)
We celebrate diversity:
With diversity, we mean the things that make us different and the things we have in common.
We value and encourage diversity among the WU community and see it as the key to an innovative and future-oriented university.
As a responsible university, we actively promote social justice, equal opportunities, diversity, and open-mindedness.
We are committed to inclusion, which we define as the right of disadvantaged groups to participate in daily life.
We create conditions that offer everyone at WU opportunities for development, regardless of their circumstances or backgrounds.
We want to redefine categories: Diversity management often focuses on categories such as gender, ethnicity, or age and defines needs based on this categorization. This is both correct and important in many cases and is also practiced at WU in many programs. Beyond that, however, real, lived inclusion needs a new understanding of groups by defining them through their life circumstances. It is important to recognize the disadvantages that result from different life contexts and how they can be counteracted or compensated for. By addressing groups of people with similar needs, we can redirect the focus onto what connects us and what we share – this is the approach we take in programs like uLiKe.
We promote diversity and inclusion as part of our overall strategy. Here’s what we want to achieve with this:
Improving equal opportunities in higher education. In particular, we hope to encourage the participation of students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, students with caregiving responsibilities, and students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses.
Promoting gender equality. The aim is to achieve a balance of genders in all fields and at all levels, in particular with regard to academic management positions.
Increasing the inclusion of disadvantaged people as WU employees, in particular of people with disabilities or chronic diseases. Inclusion is achieved if all people can participate in society, in resources, in educational and career opportunities, and in networks according to their abilities.
Developing an inclusive, non-discriminatory, and family-friendly organizational culture, characterized by appreciation and respect. The aim is also to reflect on social categorizations, attributions, and the logics of personal and organizational evaluation processes and value judgments on the grounds of which certain persons may be disadvantaged or privileged.
Establishing structures and processes that ensure equal opportunities concerning access to and the distribution of resources, and structures and processes that support the development of diverse potentials.
Developing Campus WU to become a meeting point that is accessible to all, the members of the WU community working here and the members of the general public interested in topics falling within the scope of WU. Further dismantling not only physical barriers but also social, communicative, ideological, and institutional barriers.
